Banking startup Simple’s app for iOS gets photo check deposits

After beta testing the feature relatively openly with users over the past week or so, Simple has officially launched check depositing in its iOS app. The app update, available as of last week, lets you shoot a photo to deposit it in your Simple account.

Simple is just the latest banking institution to get the feature, as major banks like Bank of America, Chase and military banks have all had it in their iPhone apps for a while. Engineer Collin Ruffenach explains how the feature works, noting that you tap a deposit button in the corner, type in how much it’s for and take photos of the front and back.

Here’s an image of the new deposit button:

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“To clear,” says Ruffenach, “checks must be endorsed and have your account number designated on the back. To make this easy, we provide your account number within the camera image preview so you don’t have to go looking for it. ”

Once the deposit has been submitted, Simple will check out the details and submit it for processing. You’ll see when the funds are available and how much is left to be released when it finishes processing.  Up to $200 of the deposit will be available one business day after it is processed depending upon how long you’ve been a customer and the size of the check. Any remainder will be available the following business day.

We were actually tipped to the feature being tested last week, as it was live in the app for a set of customers. Unfortunately, Simple forgot to ask some of those not to tweet their excitement and word got out. As it was obviously an accidental leak of a beta feature, we didn’t post about it. But we thought about it real hard. Anyhow, the cat is out of the bag now and Simple customers are free to roam about the cabin depositing checks.

Image Credit: GABRIEL BOUYS/Getty Images/AFP